Quote Originally Posted by The Bedlington Terrier View Post
I read the full transcript of Sumption's letter, it is impossible to ignore the fact we are experiencing an unprecedented power grab by a Cabal of Conservative and Unionist Cabinet Minister Dangerous to Democracy Cretins.

unfortunately (and worryingly) BT....many are finding it very easy to ignore - Cue Sumption.


There are, I would suggest, at least three lessons to be learned from this dismal story.The first lesson is one to which I drew attention in my BBC Reith lectures last year. Our society craves security. The public has unbounded confidence, which no amount of experience will dent, in the benign power of the state to protect them against an ever wider range of risks. In Britain, the lockdown was followed by a brief period in which the government’s approval ratings were sky-high. This is how freedom dies. When societies lose their liberty,it is not usually because some despot has crushed it under his boot. It is because people voluntarily surrendered their liberty out of fear of some external threat. Historically, fear has always been the most potent instrument of the authoritarian state. This is what we are witnessing today.But the fault is not just in our government. It is in ourselves. Fear provokes strident demands for abrasive action, much of which is unhelpful or damaging. It promotes intolerant conformism. It encouragesabuse directed against anyone who steps out of line, including many responsible opponents of thisgovernment’s measuresand some notable scientistswho have questioned theirempirical basis. These are the authentic ingredients of a totalitarian society.


2020: 'Government by decree - Covid-19 and the Constitution' - Lord Sumption

The 2020 Cambridge Freshfields Lecture entitled "Government by decree - Covid-19 and the Constitution" was delivered by Lord Sumption on 27 October 2020.

https://resources.law.cam.ac.uk/priv..._by_Decree.pdf

https://www.privatelaw.law.cam.ac.uk...hfieldsLecture